Meketaten
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Meketaten ("Behold the Aten" or "Protected by Aten") was the second daughter of six born to the Egyptian Pharaoh Akhenaten and his Great Royal Wife Nefertiti. She was probably born in year 2 or 3 Akhenaten's reign. Although little is known about her, she is frequently depicted with her sisters accompanying her royal parents in the first two thirds of Akhenaten's seventeen year reign.
Her approximate year of birth is the 3rd or 4th regnal year of Akhenaten. This is based on the facts that Akhenaten's last documented year is the 17th, and Ankhesenpaaten, the third princess had already given birth to a child by that time, which means she must have been already born before Year 5, thus Meketaten cannot have been born later than the 4th.
Meketaten's first depictions were on the walls of the Hut-benben temple dedicated to her mother Nefertiti, where she and her elder sister Meritaten appears alongside the queen. She was also depicted on boundary stelae mapping out the limits of Akhenaten's new capital Akhetaten. She moved there with her family when she was still a small child.
Meketaten died in the 13th or 14th regnal year of her father. In Year 12 she was still alive, since she was depicted with her parents and sisters at the reception of foreign tributes – a ceremony that can be seen on several scenes in the private tombs of high-ranking officials such as Huya and High Priest Meryre II. The fact that on the fragments remained of her sarcophagus the cartouches of both Amenhotep III and Akhenaten can be seen, can be interpreted as an evidence for a long co-regency between the two rulers.
It is very likely that a plague swept across Egypt between Akhenaten's 12nd and 15th regnal years, for many members of the royal family cease to be mentioned again; among them Queen Mother Tiye, Queen Nefertiti, Akhenaten's secondary wife Kiya, Meketaten and the two youngest princesses, Neferneferure and Setepenre. Meketaten's death could have resulted either from a plague, or – according to a widespread theory – from childbirth.
Three chambers (denoted as Chambers Alpha, Beta and Gamma) of the Amarna Royal Tomb are believed to be used for the burial of Meketaten. The chambers Alpha and Gamma depict very similar scenes: in the Alpha chamber Akhenaten and Nefertiti bend over the inert body of a woman, weeping and gripping each other's arms for support. Nearby a nurse stands with a baby in her arms, accompanied by a fan-bearer, which indicates the baby's royal status. The names in the scene have been hacked out. In the Gamma chamber a very similar scene is shown; here the hieroglyphs identify the dead young woman as Meketaten. In the same chamber another scene shows Meketaten standing under a canopy which is usually associated with childbirth but can also interpreted as representing the rebirth of the princess. In front of her, amongst courtiers, stand Akhenaten,. Nefertiti and their three remaining daughters, Meritaten, Ankhesenpaaten and Neferneferuaten Tasherit. The presence of a royal baby causes many to believe the young princess died in childbirth (in this case the father is most likely to had been Akhenaten himself, marrying his daughter), but it cannot be proven. It is even possible that the Alpha chamber was the burial place of someone else than Meketaten, possibly Kiya, and the newborn baby can be Tutankhaten.
[edit] Sources
- Joyce Tyldesley: Nefertiti – Egypt's Sun Queen
